


Galar Gym Leaders Group Chat

by W_H_0



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Gloria is actually named Cody, Group chat, Nessa has the braincell, group text
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:01:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22796722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/W_H_0/pseuds/W_H_0
Summary: *Piers has added Marnie to the Group “Galar Gym Leaders”*Piers: here, they’re your problems now*Piers has left the Group “Galar Gym Leaders”*Opal: I suppose Piers didn’t explain anything to you.Marnie: NopeOpal: …*Opal has added Pink to the Group “Galar Gym Leaders”*Opal: Well, it’s not my job to either.*Opal has left the Group “Galar Gym Leaders”*
Relationships: Mary | Marnie & Yuuri | Gloria, Mary | Marnie/Yuuri | Gloria
Comments: 35
Kudos: 351





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is dumb, but I'm having a lot of fun so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ 
> 
> Gloria is actually named Cody and her, Marnie, Hop, and Bede are 16.

***Piers has added Marnie to the Group “Galar Gym Leaders”***

Piers: here, they’re your problems now

***Piers has left the Group “Galar Gym Leaders”***

Raihan: wow nice intro Piers  
Nessa: He’s already gone, Raihan.  
Raihan: (=_=)  
Nessa: Welcome Marine!  
Nessa: Marnie*! Whoops.  
Bea: Welcome! Congrats on your Gym Challenge!  
Melony: good job!  
Kabu: You did well.  
Marnie: Uh, thank you. What is this?  
Opal: I suppose Piers didn’t explain anything to you.  
Marnie: Nope  
Opal: …

***Opal has added Pink to the Group “Galar Gym Leaders”***

Opal: Well, it’s not my job to either.

***Opal has left the Group “Galar Gym Leaders”***

Milo: …  
Raihan: …  
Bea: …  
Pink: ok is anyone gonna tell me what this is and why my name is “pink”?  
Marnie: Bede? Is that you  
Pink: uh, yeah  
Nessa: For Arceus’ sake, Opal.  
Raihan: nessa! she’s already gone  
Nessa: The name says it all! This is a group chat we started to keep in touch with other Galar Gym Leaders.  
Raihan: way to ignore me  
Nessa: It helps us keep track of the Challengers' progress during the Gym Challenge.  
Nessa: It’s also a good way for us to figure out stuff during the off-season.  
Melony: like who is running stow-on-side or circhester’s gyms each year!  
Pink: i’d like to point out that Opal is still technically the gym leader of ballonea  
Pink: and so she should still be in here, not me  
Allister: ... but I don’t think she wants to be added back ...  
Pink: okay whatever  
Pink: ill be champion next year so it’s not like i care  
Melony: I hate to ask, but who are you again? I don’t think I saw you in this year’s gym challenge!  
Bea: that’s because he got disqualified for the property damage he caused in Stow-on-side  
Melony: OH! you’re that guy! you interrupted the championship!  
Melony: no wonder Opal chose you as a successor!  
Allister: … I can’t believe you broke our mural …  
Raihan: BAHAHA you did that? wow  
Raihan: nice one  
Pink: …  
Nessa: Anyways! Congrats to both of you for your Gym Leader appointments.  
Nessa: Now that everyone’s here! Usually Oleana is the one that handles all our off-season stuff but since she’s off doing her community service…  
Nessa: Professor Magnolia’s assistant, Sonia, is managing us temporarily!

***Nessa has added Sonia to the Group “Galar Gym Leaders”***

Sonia: Hi everyone! Hi Marnie! How are you?  
Marnie: Just top, thanks  
Sonia: Cody and Hop also say hi  
Leon: Oh, Sonia, tell Hop I also say hi!  
Sonia: They both say hi back to you, too.  
Raihan: uh  
Pink: hey, why is Leon in here  
Melony: None of us have the heart to kick him out…  
Melony: Except for me, but everyone else would be upset!  
Leon: thank you for not kicking me out Miss Melony  
Melony: You are very welcome!  
Sonia: I look forward to working with you all!  
Sonia: I am a little bit busy at the moment, but I should have a rough schedule put together by the end of the week.  
Raihan: whatcha working on  
Sonia: Cody and Hop’s dogs  
Sonia: I mean, Zacian and Zamenzenta. We’re doing some research into their history in Stow-on-side right now!  
Bea: Wait, are you guys at the statues right now?  
Sonia: Yup!  
Bea: Don’t go anywhere!  
Raihan: i guess your petty vandalism did some good after all, uh…  
Pink: it’s Bede  
Raihan: bede  
Bea: ...bea forgot to take her phone again…  
Nessa: ?  
Nessa: Allister is that you?  
Bea: ...yes  
Bea: ...she accidentally grabbed my phone…  
Raihan: ooh you should change her screen name  
Raihan: make it something like hitmon-chan  
Bea: ..I...don’t know how to do that  
Raihan: hold on ill pm you  
Pink: why not just say it in chat???  
Raihan: cuz then youll change your name, duh  
Pink: ugh

***Bea has changed their screen name to Hiimon-chan***

Hiimon-chan: ..d..did it work..  
Raihan: yup  
Kabu: You misspelled it Allister.  
Hiimon-chan: ...oh

***Hiimon-chan has changed their screen name to Hitmon-chan***

Hitmon-chan: ...now..?  
Leon: You did a great job, Allister!  
Hitmon-chan: ..thanks..  
Nessa: You shouldn’t encourage them, Leon!  
Nessa: Even if it is a fitting name.  
Pink: hey, how come cody isn’t in this chat?  
Marnie: She told me through Hop that Eternatus accidentally ate her phone  
Marnie: She hasn’t gotten around to buying another one yet  
Nessa: …  
Leon: …  
Pink: …  
Marnie: What like you guys haven’t had a Pokemon accidentally destroy a phone before  
Hitmon-chan: ...my phone has a marshadow haunting it…  
Kabu: Marshadow?  
Hitmon-chan: ...you can only see it on really sunny days...i think bea is afraid of it…  
Nessa: Allister, isn’t it really sunny in Stow-on-side right now?  
Hitmon-chan: ...uh..  
Raihan: hey can we get back to the fact that the pokemon that almost ended the world somehow ate the champions phone  
Marnie: No  
Sonia: Hey Allister I was gonna ask what’s happening to Bea’s phone but then I read up  
Sonia: Is this really a Marshadow? I’ve never seen one in Galar before!  
Hitmon-chan: ..yes...it started haunting my phone after some alolan tourists came to stowonside...  
Sonia: Wow! Do you mind if I take some measurements?  
Hitmon-chan: you can, just don’t hurt it...he’s friendly..  
Raihan: so we’re just ignoring eternatus  
Marnie: Yes


	2. Chapter 2

Sonia: Okay guys, we’ll be meeting in Wyndon this Tuesday to take the official league calendar photos!  
Sonia: I need all of you guys to be there. Including Gordie and Melony.   
Gordie: if I have to  
Melony: Of course! Why wouldn’t I be there?  
Sonia: Cody also wants to invite some dude to be our official mascot  
Sonia: Um  
Sonia: Ball guy? I think.   
Nessa: Who?  
Raihan: who is ball guy  
Marnie: Uh how do you guys not know who Ball Guy is  
Pink: yeah he was at like, every single match this year  
Marnie: He’s always hanging around outside the gyms and handing out rare Pokeballs to challengers   
Leon: Is this guy like, some kind of shared delusion? I’ve never seen him.   
Pink: just ask Hop if he knows who he is  
Marnie: Yeah seriously  
Leon: Okay, okay  
Pink: well?  
Leon: How have I never heard of this guy   
Pink: we told you  
Marnie: It’s Ball Guy   
Leon: What the heck is a beast ball? Why did he give one to Hop  
Marnie: Dunno  
Marnie: I used mine to catch an Applin  
Marnie: It looks really cool  
Sonia: Did you give the Applin to Cody?  
Marnie: Maybe  
Sonia: !  
Sonia: You guys are so cute.   
Marnie: Thanks  
Pink: what I haven’t been able to catch anything with it yet   
Pink: it hasn’t broken but I’ve used it like 20 times and I couldn’t get anything to stay inside   
Marnie: Keep trying Bede it took me forever   
Raihan: marnie with them pro poke ball strats  
Raihan: where can I get one of these beast balls they sound cool  
Marnie: Ball Guy can probably hook you up   
Raihan: guess ill ask him for one next tuesday   
Sonia: Hey @Milo when Oleana said to make sure you leave all the hay at home what did she mean by that  
Milo: Oh! Last time I got caught in a Wooloo stampede right before I left and I was a right mess   
Milo: And also the year before that. And the year before that.   
Milo: I promise I’ll make sure I don’t show up muddy and covered in hay this time!   
Sonia: Okay, as long as you’ve promised.   
Milo: :)  
Sonia: :)  
Milo: Oh, I’ve got to go! Dubwool let the Wooloo out again!   
Milo: Bye!  
Sonia: :’)  
Nessa: Don’t worry Sonia. If worst comes to worst we’ll just do what we’ve done the other six times.   
Nessa: Have a Magikarp use Splash on him.   
Sonia: That makes me feel a little better.   
Sonia: Marnie, do you know when/if Cody is planning on getting a new phone? I’m mostly talking to her through Hop right now.   
Marnie: Oh she did  
Marnie: It got broken already again  
Nessa: What? How?  
Marnie: Eternatus again  
Raihan: how it doesn’t even have like a mouth or a stomach  
Raihan: how does it keep eating phones  
Marnie: I don’t know  
Marnie: It didn’t eat it this time though  
Marnie: It accidentally sat on it  
Raihan: …  
Raihan: OKAY BUT HOW   
Raihan: IT HAS NO LEGS   
Marnie: She might try getting a Bokia next but it’ll only be able to make calls   
Allister: ...maybe it’s the Galar Champion Curse…  
Pink: the what  
Leon: Guys, there’s no curse.   
Leon: Besides, Bokia are indestructible! There’s no way her cell will get broken again.   
Pink: what is this curse  
Allister: ...apparently every Galar Champion is said to be cursed with a minor inconvenience for the rest of their life in exchange for the title…  
Allister: ..for Leon, he lost his sense of direction  
Allister: ...‘nd the the champion before him, she couldn’t carry her wallet because she’d always lose it…  
Pink; that doesn’t sound so bad   
Allister: ...the Champion before that lost the ability to taste anything except bitterness…  
Pink: that sucks  
Allister: ...the woman before that, she lost her lifwwty   
Pink: huh?  
Pink: looked a lot like you were spelling life there   
Pink:...  
Pink: Allister?  
Allister: sorry I sneezed mid text   
Allister: she lost her life insurance


	3. Chapter 3

Pink: haha wow I guess that Champion curse thing is real  
Leon: …  
Raihan: do NOT tell me she broke her Bokia AGAIN  
Marnie: Yeah  
Sonia: I guess it makes sense. Leon was fine with directions during our Gym Challenge up until he won.  
Leon: Guys, there seriously isn’t a curse  
Sonia: I’ll have to study this in more detail!  
Sonia: I wonder how far back the curse goes...  
Raihan: what did eternatus do this time  
Pink: she was on a call with marnie in glimwood tangle when eternatus banged it’s head on a tree  
Pink: a huge branch dropped and it somehow only hit her phone  
Marnie: This was the longest lasting phone too  
Marnie: One whole week  
Raihan: why was she in glimwood tangle with that thing  
Raihan: its like the size of a large house  
Pink: we were making curry  
Hitmon-chan: Wow, even I haven’t broken a Bokia phone yet.  
Hitmon-chan: Not for lack of trying.  
Hitmon-chan: I think @Gordie has one too.  
Marnie: Why do you two have bokias  
Marnie: Actually I understand you, bea, but why gordie  
Gordie: regular phones don’t always survive through hugs with rock pokemon.  
Gordie: also I’m pretty sure Bea doesn’t have a Bokia, her Machamp does.  
Pink: how  
Pink: why  
Gordie: in case of emergency. she gets stuck in the wild area a lot.  
Hitmon-chan: Yeah..  
Allister: ...and...usually forgets her phone in the taxi…  
Hitmon-chan: Ahaha! That’s also true.  
Gordie: by the way, has anyone seen my  
Gordie: my mother around.  
Raihan: why the pause big guy  
Gordie: -__-  
Sonia: Why, is she not in Circhester?  
Gordie: she is not.  
Kabu: She is in Motostoke.  
Gordie: doing?  
Kabu: Destroying my Gym’s trainers.  
Kabu: Can someone please come stop her.  
Kabu: She is extinguishing some of the younger trainers’ fiery spirits.  
Raihan: why cant you do it yourself  
Kabu: I am at the PokeCenter. She has beaten me four times already.  
Raihan: um  
Raihan: @Gordie your mom is highkey terrifying  
Gordie: -_____-  
Gordie: I guarantee you she’s training her weaker ice pokemon up against fire types.  
Kabu: She is holding my Gym hostage in the process.  
Nessa: Hold on. I’m in Motostoke for a photo shoot, I’ll stop by in half an hour.  
Raihan: nessa here to save the day once again  
Marnie: @Pink How is that curry  
Pink: good  
Pink: like top ten things I’ve ever eaten  
Marnie: Damn  
Pink: yeah look at my winstagram post

***Pink has shared a link to the Group “Galar Gym Leaders”***

Sonia: Aw, look, Eternatus is smiling!  
Raihan: w h a t  
Sonia: How far away did you have to be to take that third pic?  
Pink: uh like halfway to Ballonea  
Pink: an impidimp tried to steal my camera the whole time  
Raihan: h o w  
Hitmon-chan: Wow, you take great pictures, Bede!  
Hitmon-chan: You may have missed your true calling in life!  
Pink: o u ch  
Pink: i know you’re just trying to give me a compliment but that still hurt Bea  
Hitmon-chan: Oh no! I’m sorry!  
Pink: apology accepted  
Leon: Hey Bede, when did you and Cody become friends anyways?  
Pink: what do you mean?  
Pink: we’re rivals  
Marnie: No  
Marnie: They’re definitely friends  
Marnie: Somewhere between the 20th and 30th rematch  
Marnie: So like a week after cody became champion  
Leon: Wow.  
Leon: And I thought Raihan was bad.  
Raihan: what !!!!  
Raihan: its absolutely normal to have that many rematches  
Raihan: way to throw me under the bus bro  
Leon: You’re my best friend, Raihan! I would never throw you under a bus.  
Leon: We don’t ever have buses here in Galar!  
Raihan: lee  
Leon: What?  
Raihan: its a figure of speech  
Leon: …  
Kabu: Melony just defeated me with a full team of Snoms.  
Nessa: I’m on my way, Kabu! Hang tight.  
Raihan: how has melony never beaten leon before  
Leon: Huh? She has.  
Sonia: Wait, seriously?  
Hitmon-chan: Yeah, what?  
Leon: Just never in an official match.  
Leon: I think she just wants to keep being Circhester’s Gym Leader until Gordie takes over with Ice Pokemon.  
Gordie: yeah not gonna happen.  
Leon: I tried to get through her Gym Challenge once a few years ago and I got so lost in there!  
Leon: I think I would have been in there all night if Gordie didn’t take pity on me.  
Allister: ...it was the Champion curse…  
Leon: :|  
Allister: (◉_◉)  
Sonia: Is that an Espurr emoji?  
Allister: ...yes.  
Allister: ...Bea showed me how..  
Sonia: It’s very cute, Allister!  
Nessa: Hey Sonia can you add something to the official Gym League Winstagram for me?  
Sonia: Sure, what is it?

***Nessa sent an image to the Group “Galar Gym Leaders”***

Raihan: hahaha definitely add that right now  
Kabu: Please do not.  
Pink: what is that  
Pink: it’s taking forever to download out here in the woods  
Raihan: nessa and melony took a selfie walking away from the destruction of kabus gym  
Raihan: kabus just collapsed in the background though  
Sonia: Oh, I didn’t even see Kabu there.  
Sonia: I’m sorry Kabu! I already posted it!  
Kabu: It is fine.  
Kabu: I will use it to feed the flames of my motivation.  
Raihan: attaboy mr. kabu


	4. Chapter 4

Marnie: Hey @Hitmon-chan  
Hitmon-chan: Yes?  
Marnie: Cody wants to know when you wanna host that soccer match  
Hitmon-chan: Wait, she was being serious about that?  
Marnie: Yes  
Raihan: what soccer match  
Hitmon-chan: She asked a few weeks ago when she was in Stow-on-side if I wanted to play a match against her and her Pokemon sometime.  
Hitmon-chan: I would love to do it whenever!  
Hitmon-chan: I’m free every day except Wednesday and Friday this week.  
Marnie: Hold on  
Marnie: I’m giving cody the phone  
Pink: be careful, Eternatus might break it  
Marnie: Hi Bea! How does Tuesday afternoon sound to you?  
Hitmon-chan: Perfect.  
Raihan: where exactly will you be playing this  
Marnie: I thought we’d just have it in Stow-on-side.  
Raihan: theres no grass in stow on side  
Marnie: …  
Marnie: ok you make a great point.  
Nessa: Ooh, what about this?  
Nessa: @Milo  
Nessa: What if they used your Gym? It’d be perfect for soccer. We could have a grudge match!  
Milo: Hi Nessa! Give me one minute to catch up.  
Raihan: catch up  
Raihan: ?  
Milo: This thread moves a little too fast for me sometimes, Raihan! :)  
Milo: Hmm, the last of the nesting bird Pokemon did just leave so we could technically cut the hay.  
Nessa: ...So?  
Milo: Sure! I’m not sure what you mean about a grudge match though.  
Nessa: Um, you’re my rival??  
Milo: I’m my own rival! I don’t have any grudges against you. We’re friends!  
Nessa: :’)  
Nessa: Milo you are the literal embodiment of sunshine.  
Raihan: yeah  
Gordie: yeah  
Hitmon-chan: Yeah  
Marnie: Yeah  
Milo: I’m not sure what you all mean, but thanks!  
Marnie: Will you be all set by Tuesday, Milo?  
Milo: Sure thing! I’ll get mowin’ tomorrow.  
Pink: uh if we’re having grudge matches I’ll be there  
Pink: let’s have a rematch cody  
Marnie: In soccer??  
Pink: pffft. no. pokemon battle.  
Marnie: 'Kay. Can you also bring some cotton candy from Ballonea? It’s Marnie’s favorite.  
Pink: ya  
Pink: btw you should give the phone back to marnie before it gets destroyed  
Marnie: It’ll be  
Marnie: It’ll be fine, is what I was going to say  
Marnie: Thank Arceus Marnie put a OshawottBox on her phone  
Marnie: Giving it back now. See you then Bea!  
Hitmon-chan: See ya!  
Pink: the curse nearly claims yet another victim  
Sonia: How many of you guys are planning on being there?  
Sonia: I’ve got Bea, Cody, Marnie, Bede, Nessa, and Milo so far. Anyone else?  
Kabu: My Gym could use a good soccer match to revitalize our fiery souls after last week.  
Melony: Oh Kabu! I apologize.  
Melony: It’s not like your Gym trainers didn’t need a good thrashing though!  
Melony: Maybe you’ll be better at soccer? Didn’t you used to play in Hoenn?  
Kabu: I was in a soccer league when I was younger, yes.  
Melony: Well, then! You’ll have no objections to facing my team in a match then!  
Kabu: I  
Kabu: Suppose not.  
Melony: I’ll see you on the pitch!  
Melony: I’ll bring some gelato from Circhester to award to the victors.  
Sonia: So 2/3rds of the League will be there. Since Turffield’s Stadium is already set up for cameras, how about we air the matches on TV?  
Sonia: We can get some of the off-season interviews off our backs if we’re all in one place anyways.  
Nessa: That sounds good. But since it was your idea in the first place, what do you think Bea?  
Hitmon-chan: Hmmm.  
Hitmon-chan: I usually don’t like to show my training in public, but if it’ll get reporters to stop showing up at the gym to bother Allister, it’d be worth it!  
Sonia: So it’s settled?  
Hitmon-chan: Sure!

Pink: so marnie  
Pink: is your phone still alive  
Marnie: Yes  
Pink: wanna fill us in  
Marnie: No  
Marnie: But I will anyways  
Marnie: I hate to disappoint but it was not eternatus this time  
Marnie: At least not directly  
Raihan: ?  
Marnie: We’re camping outside of spikemuth  
Marnie: We got some coffees a little while ago  
Marnie: Puppo joe and eternatus are playing with a ball  
Raihan: puppo joe ???  
Pink: cody nicknamed zamenzenta Pupp o’ Joe  
Pink: like cup of joe...but pup  
Marnie: Yeah puppo joe loves coffee  
Marnie: Like  
Marnie: A lot  
Raihan: ah  
Sonia: I don't think coffee's healthy for a Pokemon.  
Sonia: Hop's dog loves tea though so maybe it's normal for those two?  
Marnie: I have no idea  
Marnie: Anyways  
Marnie: He comes over to sniff her drink  
Marnie: Drops the ball  
Marnie: Eternatus lunges at the ball and scares the life out of puppo joe  
Marnie: Who goes nosefirst into the coffee and spills it all over cody  
Marnie: It’s made a right mess  
Marnie: Luckily it was iced  
Pink: i think that’s the most you’ve ever talked to us in one go Marnie  
Marnie: Bede I hate to break it to you but we’re actually texting


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not a very regular poster, so you may want to bookmark this if you're interested in future updates! I have a few longer chapters in progress already that should be going up soon. Thanks for reading!

**Private Message between Leon and Sonia**

Leon: Hey Sonia  
Sonia: Hey, what’s up?  
Leon: I have a question for you.  
Sonia: Go ahead!  
Leon: Have you looked into that thing Allister was mentioning a while ago?  
Sonia: That video of his yamask having an argument with his phantump?  
Sonia: It kind of gave me the chills.  
Leon: No, no.  
Leon: The, uh, curse  
Sonia: Oh, the Galarian Champion Curse?  
Sonia: Why do you ask?  
Leon: No particular reason.  
Leon: I got lost in the Battle Tower today. For a few hours.  
Sonia: Leon, how? You reorganized the inside of the Battle Tower to be as simple as possible.  
Leon: I dunno! I’m maybe starting to think the curse thing makes sense, you know?  
Leon: It would definitely explain a few things.  
Sonia: Well, the minor inconvenience thing has been documented as far back as six champions ago…  
Sonia: It’s mostly just theorized about though. Nobody’s ever been able to prove for sure that the title’s been cursed.  
Leon: I guess, what I’m getting at is this--say maybe the curse is real.  
Leon: Did the minor inconvenience ever fade away after they lost the title?  
Sonia: Oh, Leon…  
Sonia: I haven’t heard anything like that, but I also haven’t heard anything otherwise.  
Sonia: How about you ask the previous Champion? I can check and see if she’s still around in Galar.  
Sonia: She might have some answers for you.  
Leon: Really? I thought she moved to Kanto ages ago.  
Sonia: I heard she was just visiting her grandfather for a bit to help with some research at Mt. Moon. She may have moved back since then...  
Sonia: I’ll ask my grams if she can help us get in touch.  
Leon: You are a lifesaver, Sonia! Thanks!  
Sonia: Aw, it's no problem Lee.  
Sonia: By the way, are you coming to the match on Tuesday?  
Leon: Yes! Rye and I are taking a taxi from Hammerlocke.  
Sonia: I'm taking Hop, so come sit with us?  
Leon: Sure. I'll see you guys then!


	6. Chapter 6

Sonia: What is that on Cody’s head?  
Sonia: I can’t see it properly from the stands.   
Pink: it’s a tie  
Pink: Hop borrowed one of them from Leon’s drawers and gave it to her  
Leon: Wait, I own ties?  
Sonia: Lee,  
Leon: :|  
Nessa: I’m guessing the one Bea has on is Allister’s.   
Nessa: I saw it earlier and it was almost too small for her head.   
Sonia: ?  
Nessa: It’s to match their team colors! Cody has purple, Bea has grey.   
Nessa: Milo and I ended up doing a similar thing but with normal headbands.   
Nessa: In the oddest twist of fate ever, Melony is wearing her old all red soccer uniform and Kabu is wearing his old all white soccer uniform.   
Sonia: Huh, weird.   
Raihan: big rival energy  
Pink: ‘scuse me?  
Pink: i’m Cody’s rival???  
Raihan: huh weird then why arent you wearing a tie around your head and facing her in a soccer match   
Pink: …  
Marnie: He doesn’t play  
Pink: ^  
Raihan: huh guess you arent true rivals then  
Sonia: Rye!  
Raihan: ¯\\_(•~•)_/¯   
Marnie: Rye  
Marnie: ?  
Sonia: Someone can never have too many rivals Bede! After all, Piers, Leon, and Raihan were all my rivals when I was a Gym Challenger.   
Marnie: True cody has three rivals  
Marnie: Bede, me, n’ hop   
Pink: ?  
Pink: how can you be her rival and her girlfriend?   
Marnie: Bede  
Marnie: You Cannot possibly be this dense  
Raihan: bahahaahahah  
Pink: hey!  
Nessa: BEDE DUCK   
Nessa: Oh Arceus  
Sonia: Holy crap!  
Raihan: what happened   
Sonia: You didn’t see?   
Raihan: were not at the stadium yet  
Nessa: He was so lucky he was looking at his phone.   
Marnie: Wow  
Marnie: Mercer slipped during the kickoff  
Raihan: mercer is  
Sonia: Cody’s Cinderace. He sent the ball flying out of bounds and on fire because he was panicked.   
Sonia: That was an incredible dodge by Bede.   
Marnie: I have never seen him move so fast  
Nessa: It looks like Cody is getting an earful from him.   
Nessa: Oddly enough, I think he’s yelling rival things at her though  
Raihan: classic bede  
Raihan: hey @Leon where did you just go  
Leon: Just to the public bathroom, why?   
Sonia: Why do I have a bad feeling about something?  
Raihan: lee i am in the bathroom  
Raihan: you are not here   
Leon: Ah, well you see  
Leon: I got lost.   
Raihan: we just got here  
Raihan: you can literally see the bathroom from the entrance   
Leon: Hold on, it’s kinda dark where I am. Let me get somewhere brighter so you can find me.   
Raihan: ok  
Raihan: lee  
Sonia: Oh no.  
Leon: The good news is I know where I am now.   
Nessa: I’m on the sidelines, I’ll go get him.   
Marnie: Is that leon in the middle of the field  
Sonia: Yes…  
Leon: Good thing the ref had the match on timeout already!  
Leon: I think Bede is winding down. I can hear him yelling at Cody for having multiple rivals without telling him.  
Marnie: Bede was Apparently  
Marnie: Unaware that you can be rivals and friends at the same time  
Sonia: Oh Arceus, the jumbotron has them on camera now.  
Sonia: What are they saying? Why is he making that face?  
Nessa: Bede just asked Cody if they’re friends or rivals.  
Nessa: She just said, “Duh, we’re both? Best rivals and best friends.”  
Nessa: Look at him blush. I think Bede is spontaneously combusting.  
Raihan: thats kinda kabus thing  
Sonia: This is so cute.   
Nessa: Bede just told her she better make up for almost taking his head off by winning the game so that they can have their rematch.  
Nessa: I am lowkey getting super fired up for my match against Milo now.  
Sonia: Aw, look at poor Mercer getting yellow carded.   
Sonia: It looks like she’s going to sub him out.   
Leon: I wonder who with?  
Raihan: no way  
Raihan: is that allowed  
Marnie: Don’t see why not  
Marnie: It’s just puppo joe  
Sonia: How is he going to ki   
Sonia: Oh, I see, that’s how!   
Pink: this is the moment Puppo has been training for for weeks   
Pink: all those games of fetch and keep away with Eternatus are finally going to pay off  
Sonia: Welcome back, Bede!   
Nessa: Nice dodge.   
Raihan: how do you play keep away with something larger than a house   
Pink: with a lot of perseverance and also a lot of open space

...

Sonia: Is that?  
Nessa: It is.   
Raihan: LOOK AT KABU  
Raihan: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA  
Allister: ...it almost looks ….like mr. kabu has seen a duskull...  
Allister: ...something just died in his eyes…  
Raihan: SNOMS  
Raihan: snomi ?  
Raihan: sonia what is the plural of snom  
Sonia: The plural of Snom is Snom.   
Raihan: can you use it in a sentence   
Sonia: …  
Sonia: A great deal of Snom have taken their positions on the field.   
Raihan: look at that goalie snom go  
Raihan: 1mph  
Raihan: aw wait what   
Raihan: whyd she call them back  
Sonia: Oh, thank Arceus. I thought she was serious for a minute.   
Pink: I think Mr. Kabu was about to have a medical emergency on the field   
Allister: …his soul was leaving his body…  
Pink: @Gordie why does your mom has so many snom  
Pink: doesn’t she ever evolve them?  
Gordie: She does. All the time  
Gordie: She likes to breed snom and gift them to people. Almost everyone in circhester has at least one.   
Gordie: They’re used to clear the snow off of people’s front steps or porches.   
Sonia: Wow, that’s fascinating! I never knew that.   
Sonia: Any particular reason why she trains them up before giving them away?  
Gordie: I mean  
Gordie: She’s Melony.   
Gordie: Why wouldn’t she.   
Raihan: you make a good point   
Pink: hold on I just looked up some snom facts on my phone  
Pink: a single snom can eat two times its body weight in snow in an hour?!?  
Sonia: Bede did you ever end up going to Circhester after the Stow-on-side incident?   
Pink: ...no  
Sonia: Would you like to?  
Pink: maybe   
Pink: would I be able to catch a snom while there  
Sonia: Of course!   
Sonia: Hop and I were planning on studying the town’s ruins and taking some samples. I’m sure Opal would let you come as long as you promise to help us!   
Pink: hmmm the other rival of my rival   
Pink: my rival’s rival rival   
Pink: I suppose I could help you  
Sonia: Just please don’t break any more priceless artifacts. Or try to battle Hop.   
Pink: ...I can only promise one of those things   
Sonia: I...okay.


	7. Chapter 7

Raihan: how’s it going, marnie?  
Pink: um  
Marnie: Piers is that you  
Raihan: yeah, what’s up  
Marnie: Not much  
Pink: uh, how could you tell??  
Marnie: Raihan doesn’t use punctuation  
Pink: what  
Pink: piers why are you on raihan’s phone?  
Raihan: him, lee, and sonia are all at my concert in spikemuth tonight  
Raihan: he left his phone charging backstage by accident and still hasn’t changed his password from when we were kids  
Raihan: thought I’d see how the gym leader chat was going  
Marnie: You could have just rejoined the chat  
Raihan: well, yeah but that’s no fun  
Raihan: I get to fill raihan’s phone with selfies this way  
Raihan: hey what’s the pinned message at the top of this group mean  
Raihan: that’s new  
Hitmon-chan: That’s the number of times the Champion has broken her phone since she became Champion.  
Raihan: HAHAHAHAH  
Raihan: okay, I knew she was breaking phones because of Marnie  
Raihan: but that is an absurd number.  
Raihan: brb next song is up.

Leon: Piers are you still in here?  
Raihan: ya  
Leon: Okay, don’t give the phone back to Raihan yet.  
Leon: Can you help me?  
Raihan: oh?  
Raihan: with?  
Nessa: I bet I can guess...  
Leon: I’m lost.  
Raihan: how? sonia and raihan were right next to you like 20 minutes ago  
Leon: Raihan went to find his phone and I’m not sure where Sonia went. I think her phone died and she went to charge it at the Pokemon Center.  
Raihan: okay so did you check the pokemon center?  
Leon: I was trying to.  
Raihan: lee I’m not going to even ask how…  
Raihan: what’s around you? street names? house numbers? Landmarks?  
Leon: There’s a fountain...of a Milotic?  
Raihan: can you see a beach from there?  
Leon: No.  
Raihan: okay.  
Raihan: I know where you are. just don’t move, got it?  
Leon: Yup!  
Nessa: How are you so good at that Piers?  
Raihan: at what?  
Nessa: Figuring out how to find Leon.  
Raihan: I mean,  
Raihan: it’s spikemuth  
Raihan: I know every inch of my city, there’s no way lee’s staying lost in here for long  
Hitmon-chan: It probably helps that Piers has Big Brother Energy!  
Pink: huh?  
Nessa: I mean, that is true.  
Nessa: Shouldn’t Leon also have big brother energy though?  
Hitmon-chan: Yeah, but like, Piers has bigger Big Brother Energy!  
Hitmon-chan: Plus Leon is cursed, so he can’t help it.  
Leon: Hey!  
Leon: I absolutely have Big Brother energy.  
Leon: I’m Hop’s big brother!  
Pink: notice how he didn’t deny the curse this time  
Hitmon-chan: Leon, you may be an older brother, but you don’t necessarily have the same Big Brother Energy that Piers does!  
Leon: …  
Hitmon-chan: @Marnie Can you settle this?  
Marnie: I’m biased  
Marnie: Piers basically raised me himself  
Marnie: So I would have to say him  
Raihan: I appreciate it guys, but please don’t tease lee it’ll only be troublesome  
Hitmon-chan: See?  
Raihan: bea...

**Leon has added Hop to the group "Galar Gym Leaders"**

Hop: ?  
Leon: Hop, do I give off “Big Brother Energy”?  
Hop: Uh  
Hop: Yes? You are my older brother.  
Marnie: Hop  
Hop: Marnie?  
Marnie: Compared to piers  
Hop: oh  
Hop: Well to be fair Piers does give off massive big brother energy  
Hop: He came to my first lecture last week.  
Leon: I did too?  
Hop: I know! But Piers isn’t even my actual older brother and he came.  
Nessa: Oh, I guess I’m starting to get what you guys mean by Big Brother Energy.  
Leon: :(  
Hop: Oh, is this the gym leader chat?  
Marnie: Ya  
Hop: I was gonna ask about the vague pinned message at the top but I think I can guess what that means.  
Hop: You guys gotta update it though she just lost another one  
Marnie: 24

 **Marnie has unpinned the message: “24” in the group "Galar Gym Leaders"**

**Marnie has pinned the message: “25” in the group "Galar Gym Leaders"**

Hop: I can’t believe Macro Cosmos agreed to sponsor her with an unlimited supply of phones.  
Allister: ...did she get the Rotom I sent her last week..?  
Hop: Yeah! It makes it a lot easier for her to replace each phone now.  
Hitmon-chan: Allister, why are you up so late! You have school tomorrow.  
Allister: ...I was watching the concert on tv,,,  
Allister: ...tomorrow is a field trip anyways…  
Hitmon-chan: That is a good point….but still! You need to sleep.  
Allister: ...I know…  
Raihan: hey al  
Allister: hi…  
Raihan: y’know a buddy of mine tapes all my concerts for me  
Raihan: want me to have him send you copies so you don’t have to stay up late for the next one?  
Allister: !  
Allister: ...s’pose so...  
Allister: bea won’t have to get mad at me anymore…  
Hitmon-chan: Aw, Allie I could never be mad at you.  
Allister: i know…  
Allister: (◉ᴥ◉)  
Allister: ...goodnight everyone...  
Hop: Night!  
Nessa: Good night, Allister.  
Nessa: :)  
Marnie: Night  
Leon: Good night!  
Hitmon-chan: Good night, Allie! Sweet dreams!  
Raihan: have a nice night, big Al  
Raihan: Lee I can see you pacing from here don’t move  
Leon: I’m not moving!  
Nessa: Leon, pacing counts as moving.  
Nessa: It’s the first step to you getting lost again.  
Hop: Aw, Lee can’t help it. He’s never been able to keep still.  
Nessa: I know. Oleana used to warn all of us to watch for the signs that Leon was about to get lost.  
Raihan: oh right, didn’t she have an acronym?  
Raihan: PB&J  
Leon: ?  
Leon: Wait, what?  
Leon: I thought  
Hop: ?  
Leon: Sorry, Piers found me.  
Leon: I thought Oleana was always just reminding you guys to eat lunch before your matches.  
Hitmon-chan: Huh. I always assumed you knew!  
Hitmon-chan: She’d go, “Remember people, PB&J”  
Marnie: Whatsit stand for  
Nessa: Pacing, Bouncing, and Jittering  
Nessa: Those are the precursors to Leon going and getting lost.  
Nessa: If we saw him start to do one of those we would try to keep him from wandering out of the room.  
Hitmon-chan: Leon, you certainly have Big Energy Energy!  
Leon: I’m not sure what that means fully Bea, but thank you?  
Leon: I think?  
Sonia: LEON WHERE ARE YOU  
Raihan: with me?  
Sonia: You’re not Raihan  
Sonia: Raihan only uses punctuation for Winstagram  
Sonia: I’m guessing that’s Piers  
Pink: holy shit  
Pink: Sonia your deductive skills are a little terrifying  
Sonia: Also Raihan’s busy ugly crying over the tiniest Gible in the universe.  
Pink: o nvm then  
Sonia: Someone brought one into the Spikemuth Pokecenter and he’s never seen one in Galar before. 

**Sonia sent an image to the group “Galar Gym Leaders”**

Hitmon-chan: Awww!!! Why is the little guy in the Pokecenter?  
Sonia: His owner says Gible tripped while chasing her daughter around and chipped a tooth.  
Sonia: The nurse is just checking to make sure nothing was impacted during the, well, impact.  
Raihan: oh arceus, that’s toni gooby  
Sonia: Toni Gooby?  
Raihan: the record holding smallest gible in the world.  
Raihan: he’s a spikemuth celebrity  
Sonia: That’s..such a cute namr  
Sonia: name*  
Raihan: don’t start crying sonia  
Pink: why would she start crying  
Sonia: He’a just so litle  
Sonia: His  
Sonia: 90% of his body is mouth  
Sonia: and the other 9% is little stubby legs and arms  
Pink: ?? uh  
Raihan: sonia always cries uncontrollably whenever someone else around her is crying  
Pink: huh.  
Hop: It’s true!  
Hop: Last Wednesday she cried because a Cutiefly used Fake Tears on her.  
Pink: no way  
Sonia: Yeah, no that’s totally true  
Sonia: Tears are supereffective against me  
Raihan: they couldn’t air the interviews from when lee first won the championship because for the first few hours it was just him and sonia crying tears of excitement  
Raihan: anytime one of them stopped, the other one started sobbing again  
Sonia: I’m kinda glad they couldn’t air it. It’d be embarrassing to have a video of that floating around.  
Sonia: Plus we were all like, super young.  
Raihan: personally, I’m glad we all unanimously decided to stop sending ten year olds out on their own anymore  
Raihan: I mean, at least in galar  
Sonia: Oh, you’re definitely Piers.  
Hitmon-chan: It’s the Big Brother Energy isn’t it?  
Sonia: I guess? But it sure sounds like Piers, lol.  
Sonia: I will say this—if not for Piers, all three of us would have probably starved on our Gym Challenge because none of us knew how to cook  
Sonia: Or like, do laundry. Wash dishes. Or fix ripped clothes. Stuff like that.  
Sonia: But Piers did though!  
Hop: Oh, I’m still not sure that Leon knows how to cook.  
Leon: Hey  
Leon: ...  
Leon: Dang it, you’re right.  
Leon: But it’s not like you’re any better, you can only cook curry and soup.  
Hop: True! :-P  
Sonia: Piers, how far away are you?  
Raihan: like 2 minutes out why?  
Sonia: Toni Gooby left and Raihan is starting to go through phone withdrawals, I think  
Nessa: uh oh  
Nessa: Raihan goes a bit mad without his phone.  
Nessa: At last year’s family reunion he accidentally dropped it in the crab pot while trying to take a photo for Winstagram.  
Raihan: classic raihan  
Nessa: You can imagine how well that situation boiled over.  
Sonia: !  
Sonia: Was that a pun Nessa?  
Nessa: Hm, to be honest I didn’t mean it to be.  
Sonia: That was totally a pun. I’m counting it.  
Pink: wait are you and raihan related nessa?  
Nessa: Yup, he’s my older cousin.  
Pink: huh  
Pink: I had no idea  
Nessa: Our family raises two things: strong swimmers and strong Pokémon trainers!  
Nessa: Ironically though, Raihan can’t swim.  
Raihan: wow way to air all my secrets nessa  
Raihan: im back btw  
Nessa: Welcome back. How’re all the selfies Piers took?  
Raihan: he what  
Raihan: my storage space  
Raihan: can i get an f in chat  
Pink: F  
Marnie: F  
Hitmon-chan: F  
Hop: F  
Raihan: thank you  
Raihan: marnie ur bro wants to tell you to be back by 10 coz youve got an advisor appointment at school tmrw morning  
Marnie: Sure  
Pink: Hop did you do the lit homework yet  
Hop: We’re working on it right now, why?  
Pink: can you FaceTime me right now  
Pink: that one wallpaper reading is so confusing  
Raihan: woah when did this chat get filled with little school kids  
Raihan: no offense to allister of course  
Hitmon-chan: He’s asleep right now so he can’t take offense anyways.  
Marnie: To be Fair  
Marnie: You technically are still in uni  
Raihan: tch  
Raihan: i forgot you knew that  
Marnie: Yeah  
Pink: ?  
Pink: really?  
Raihan: im a masters student in archaeology and anthropology so shes correct  
Pink: oh  
Pink: that makes sense  
Hop: So are you calling Bede or what?  
Pink: yeah 1 sec grabbing a snack  
Hop: ^~^

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for all the comments, reading them has helped make a dark week for me just a little bit brighter!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is absolutely inspired by that [team rocket fence sketch](https://twitter.com/OoCPokemon/status/1212821003056889856)

**Private Message between Hop and Sonia**

Hop: Hey Sonia?  
Hop: What is that machine in the corner of the room on the Professor’s desk?  
Sonia: Which one?

***Hop sent an image to Sonia***

Sonia: I  
Sonia: Don’t actually know. I’ve never seen it turned on.  
Sonia: Why do you ask?  
Hop: I think a Rotom may be possessing it or something. It’s making a really scary noise.  
Sonia: What like? Do you have a video?

***Hop sent a video to Sonia***

Sonia: …I have no idea.  
Sonia: Is it moving or anything? Any signs of a Pokémon?  
Sonia: It sounds like something using screech.  
Hop: No, it’s just blasting that noise. Dubwool isn’t reacting like it’s a Pokémon.  
Sonia: Hm. Maybe I’ll call the professor and see if she’ll pick up while on vacation.

***Welcome to the group “Professional Yamper Ear-Scratchers”***  
**Pinned message:**  
**Raihan: 1509**

Sonia: Anyone know what this is?

***Sonia sent an image to the group “Professional Yamper Ear-Scratchers”***

Leon: ?  
Leon: No idea. A printer maybe?  
Sonia: It’s making a really strange sound.  
Raihan: strange how  
Sonia: I don’t know how to describe it, honestly.  
Sonia: Here!

***Sonia sent a video to the group “Professional Yamper Ear-Scratchers”***

Piers: what the hell?  
Piers: that’s bloody loud  
Sonia: Sorry, I should have said headphone warning  
Leon: Where is that?  
Sonia: Uh  
Sonia: My gran’s desk  
Sonia: I’ve never heard or seen this thing before today but apparently it’s always been there.  
Piers: Raihan, you’re the archaeologist  
Piers: what is this fossil?  
Raihan: (=_=)  
Raihan: youre officially uninvited from my next dig  
Leon: Ouch  
Piers: ugh  
Piers: I already made the reservations in Stow-on-side and everything too  
Piers: bought the claws  
Piers: bought gifts for Al and B too  
Raihan: are u being serious  
Piers: are you?  
Raihan: no  
Piers: well  
Piers: good because I bought them and lost the receipt already so I can’t return them  
Raihan: youre really gonna drink during my archaeological dig huh  
Sonia: >_>  
Piers: Raihan don’t be dense  
Piers: I don’t drink black claws  
Piers: I did get gifts for al and b tho coz their birthdays are coming up  
Raihan: fine youre reinvited  
Raihan: anyways i was just on the lift with oleana and I showed her that video sonia  
Raihan: she doesnt have a clue so youll have to ask someone older than her  
Leon: How old is Oleana?  
Raihan: man i have no idea  
Raihan: id ask her if i felt like dying  
Sonia: I’m scared to even make a guess. I feel like the universe might somehow communicate it to her.  
Piers: that sounds ridiculous but we do all have macro cosmos phones and we’re using their messaging app so…  
Raihan: ok ok ok  
Raihan: were offtrack  
Raihan: also miss oleana if youre reading this please increase the stadiums budget for renovations  
Leon: Why haven’t you just called Magnolia yet? Is she still on vacation?  
Sonia: Yup, cruise got extended.  
Sonia: She’s on island time right now.  
Piers: same.  
Sonia: ?  
Piers: didn’t you see my winstagram story?  
Piers: retirement is treating me well

***Piers sent an image to the group “Professional Yamper Ear-Scratchers”***

Sonia: PIERS  
Piers: SONIA  
Piers: what  
Sonia: ASK HER  
Piers: oh  
Piers: oharceus  
Piers: I’m dumb as hell  
Leon: Where is that?  
Piers: south of spikemuth north of hulbury  
Piers: she says it’s a facts machine  
Piers: fax*  
Sonia: Thank Arceus for Opal  
Raihan: just drinking champagne on the beach with opal while the rest of us are working huh  
Raihan: youre uninvited from the dig again

**Private Message from Sonia to Hop**

Sonia: Sorry that took so long!  
Sonia: Magnolia is still impossible to reach.  
Sonia: It’s apparently called a fax machine.  
Hop: No worries!  
Hop: It stopped making noises a little while ago.  
Hop: So  
Hop: What’s it do?  
Sonia: One second!

***”Professional Yamper Ear-Scratchers”***

Piers: rye it’s the off-season you could literally join us any time you liked  
Piers: plus you’re advisor isn’t even in the country right now so it’s not like you’re pressed for any deadlines  
Piers: your* advisor  
Raihan: tfue  
Raihan: true*  
Sonia: Piers what’s a face machine do  
Sonia: fax*  
Sonia: Piers your typos are contagious again.  
Piers: hold on  
Piers: “back when magnolia was still younger than me, people used those things to transfer images and documents through phone lines”  
Leon: Back when Magnolia was…?  
Leon: How old is Opal?  
Piers: 16  
Raihan: 16  
Sonia: 16  
Leon: Ah  
Leon: I get it now

***Private Message from Sonia to Hop***

Sonia: Sorry, I’m back!  
Hop: Wb!  
Sonia: So apparently they were a way to send pictures and stuff to other people using phone lines.  
Sonia: Like way, way back. When the professor was still a little girl.  
Hop: Interesting! I wonder who would send something through that now?  
Hop: Maybe an old friend?  
Hop: Though it’d probably be easier to just text the picture to Magnolia directly...  
Sonia: I don’t think Magnolia texts. But your point still stands!  
Hop: I dunno how this thing works but as long as it doesn’t make any more noises I can just leave it alone right?  
Sonia: Right!  
Hop: Okay, thanks!

***“Professional Yamper Ear-Scratchers”***

Raihan: ugh  
Piers: anyways Sonia  
Piers: Opal wants to know what’s outside the lab window in that picture  
Sonia: um  
Sonia: What  
Piers: the picture you sent? of the fax machine?  
Raihan: ?  
Sonia: ?  
Leon: Huh  
Leon: That kinda looks like  
Sonia: Leon  
Leon: What  
Sonia: permission to end your brother and the new champion  
Leon: Denied

**Welcome to the group “Galar Gym Leaders”***  
**Pinned message:**  
**Marnie: 29**

Hop: Mates  
Hop: Eternatus got another one  
Hop: 30

**Hop unpinned the message: “29” in Galar Gym Leaders  
Hop pinned the message: “30” in Galar Gym Leaders**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has read and commented! I love reading your comments **SO** much. I do have plans to continue this series, but thank you for your patience in the meantime.


End file.
